Dodgers' Jack Flaherty Says He Wasn't Trying to Hit Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. With Pitch

Maren Angus-Coombs | Oct 7, 2024

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The sixth inning of last night's 10-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of the National League Division Series was chaotic, to say the least.

Tensions flared between the teams after Fernando Tatis Jr. was struck on the left thigh by a 92 mph sinker from Jack Flaherty. Following a bunt from Profar that advanced Tatis to second, he later scored on a single by Merrill, extending the Padres' lead to 4-1.

Though Tatis walked to first base at a slow pace, it was Manny Machado and Profar who were the most visibly upset, making sure to voice their frustration toward Flaherty and the Dodgers' dugout.

Flaherty insists that he didn't hit Tatis on purpose.

“Look, I missed in the first inning and threw the ball over the middle — I wasn’t going to miss over the plate again," Flaherty said. “I have no reason to hit a guy there to start off the sixth. As good as he’s been, we were down in the game, I’m going in for effect, he didn’t get out of the way, and it hit him.

“I wasn’t trying to lead off the inning by hitting him. That doesn’t make any sense. I didn’t go up near his head. I was just trying to push a guy off the plate, and he didn’t get out of the way. Sometimes that happens, and they were upset about it.”

Machado didn't buy Flaherty's explanation.

“You hit Tatis with a sinker after he’s two for two with a bomb and a double off of him?” Machado said. “I mean, I’ll let you guys decide that.”

Tatis embraced the moment when he was hit by a pitch. He didn't think Flaherty did it on purpose but said it gave the team more energy.

“I know my boys have my back the entire time, and everybody saw it tonight,” he said. “But we’re playing baseball. It’s too early in the game to be doing stuff like that. It’s too important of a series to be throwing at guys. That’s what my baseball IQ is telling me.

“When he hit me, he just gave me more energy. My boys gave me more energy. And I know from there, we were just going to embrace that moment and take that energy and use it to play baseball the way we did tonight.”